Pierce's design was later improved by U.S. appliance engineers Ivar Jepson, Ludvik Koci, and Eric Bylund of Sunbeam in the late 1930s. They altered the heating chamber and eliminated the recessed well which was hard to clean. They also made several improvements to the filtering mechanism. Their improved design of plated metals, styled by industrial designer Alfonso Iannelli, became the famous Sunbeam Coffeemaster line of automated vacuum coffee makers (Models C-20, C-30, C40, and C-50). The Coffeemaster vacuum brewer was sold in large numbers in the United States during the years immediately following World War I.
“Self-identified coffee snob. Couldn’t be happier. Easy to operate, functions as advertised, instructions are clear. The metal filter included does what it needs to do. I recommend a relatively coarse grind (imagine the feel of cornmeal) with the metal filter to get the full flavor of the coffee. If you’re a bit of a coffee snowflake (no disrespect intended) and don’t like the ‘mud’ at the bottom of the cup, you should stick with the paper filter. Either way, the coffee maker itself does the job nicely.”

Whole bean coffee that you grind yourself is preferable to pre-ground, too. The bean’s exterior traps and protects all of the delicate, volatile, and water-soluble oils that give coffee its flavor. As soon as you break the protective shell, it’s easy for the flavor to get contaminated, and much of the aroma escapes as soon as the oils are exposed to air.

A good grinder: An even grind is essential for drinkable espresso. In fact, if you’re trying to save money, most experts recommend cheaping out on your espresso machine rather than your grinder. Since we wanted to make sure our machines had the best chance of making great espresso, we started with a $600 grinder recommended to us by Seattle Coffee Gear.

Since semi-automatic espresso makers require you to dose the coffee yourself, grind and pack it, they give the brewer more control. You can tinker and master the art of making espresso. You can learn to pull the perfect shot. Still, fully automatic machines are a good option for someone who wants quality espresso at home, but wants to put in less effort (and skill). According to our expert from Students of Coffee—and our own online research—a semi-automatic machine is the best way to make espresso.
Flavorful, hot beverages are a cornerstone of the restaurant industry. From quaint street-side coffee shops to chain restaurants and even bars, everyone needs a fresh java or tea at one point (or several) throughout the day. By following this buying guide, you can find the best hot beverage equipment to make sure your business is serving the drinks that'll turn one-time customers into regulars.
This Good Housekeeping Seal star features an all-black body, a 12-cup glass carafe, a reusable filter and a backlit LCD screen with digital touchpad controls. You can program the clock to automatically brew coffee in the morning. It'll make a hot pot very quickly, but drink up — the keep warm feature didn't keep the coffee as warm as other models in our tests.
Semi-automatic espresso machines are just that—semi-automatic. Some of the steps are automated, but many are not. This allows the user to put their personal stamp on the final product but without doing some of the tedious steps that are involved in making an espresso on the stove top. Here’s a look at some of the features that make a semi-automatic espresso machine such a great pickup for the ultimate espresso lover:
For all the debate over whether the best coffee comes from a Chemex or a French press or an AeroPress (even Nespresso), sometimes you just want to turn on a machine and let it do the work. We asked ten coffee drinkers — food-industry professionals and just plain coffee snobs — what’s the coffee machine that’ll get you a simple at-home brew without all the fuss?
It’s not that cone filters won’t make a great cup of coffee — the OXO On 9-Cup still ranked fifth out of 10 in our taste test. But flat bottoms generally allow for the grounds to be more evenly extracted and increase the coffee’s flavor. (It’s no coincidence our other three recommendations have flat-bottom brew baskets). You may have to do a little more tweaking to get this coffee maker’s brew to the best it can be, and that’s the other reason we like the 12-cupper more. This smaller version doesn’t let you tinker with water temperature.
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Now you can make authentic espressos, lattes and cappuccinos to suit your taste, in the comfort of your kitchen. Whatever your preference — single or double espresso, cappuccino or latte — the manual espresso machine brews authentic barista-quality beverages just like you enjoy at your favorite coffeehouse. With a manual espresso machine, you are guaranteed a true crema that’s rich, creamy, and full of flavor. Water and steam are heated separately thanks to the dual thermostat system, allowing crema to reach the ultimate consistency without scalding the coffee. For milk-based beverages, the manual frother mixes steam and milk to create a rich, creamy froth for evenly textured drinks — just the way you like them. Our patented three-in-one filter holders give you total control over your beverages and allow you to choose from one shot, two shot, or convenient espresso pods. The built-in tamper provides great flavor without the guesswork, and while the cappuccino systems may vary in method (one-touch automation for a semi-automatic model, versus an advanced manual frother for a traditional pump espresso machine), the results are consistently excellent. Don't like the idea of coffee grounds spilling everywhere, but still love the taste of fresh coffee? If you want all the convenience of an attached milk steamer and espresso maker, but less of the mess, we recommend the Nespresso range, with its convenient espresso pods, just as versatile as any of our other coffee machines. At De’Longhi, we’re proud of our manual espresso machines, and we hope you’ll be as enchanted by them as we are. Choose from a range of sleek, stylish designs, in black, red or stainless steel. Our machines are easy to use, easy to clean and easy to fill — exactly how they’re supposed to be.

The Breville Barista Express comes with everything you need to pull great espresso. A built-in grinder lets you adjust grind coarseness, and changing the amount of ground coffee that you want in your shot is easy: Simply turn a dial or press the portafilter firmly against the dispensing cradle. A button at the back allows you to dose as much or as little coffee as you wish.

The principle of a vacuum brewer was to heat water in a lower vessel until expansion forced the contents through a narrow tube into an upper vessel containing ground coffee. When the lower vessel was empty and sufficient brewing time had elapsed, the heat was removed and the resulting vacuum would draw the brewed coffee back through a strainer into the lower chamber, from which it could be decanted. The Bauhaus interpretation of this device can be seen in Gerhard Marcks' Sintrax coffee maker of 1925.
Once you choose your grind and pre-set your volume (single or double shot), the machine will take your beans from —well, beans — to espresso in less than a minute. It doesn't get much fresher than that. The BES870 also comes with four single and dual wall filter baskets, one stainless steel milk jug, a cleaning kit, and a precision raze dose trimming tool and PID digital temperature control. Depending on your level of expertise, you can either use the dual-wall pressurized filters (to control pressure and optimize extraction), or, for the more experienced baristas, try using the non-pressurized single-wall filters to play around and make the brew your own. This thing is the perfect tool for bringing quality espresso to aficionados at any level.

The Hamilton Beach 12-Cup BrewStation coffee maker offers convenient one-hand dispensing without a conventional glass carafe. There's no pouring or spills, and nothing fragile to break and replace. It’s impossible to get freshly brewed flavor from coffee that’s been sitting on a hot plate too long. That’s why the Hamilton Beach BrewStation was created to be the only coffeemaker that keeps coffee tasting fresh for up to four hours. This best-selling coffee maker works just like a...

Try a new way to brew coffee if you’re tired of the same-old, same-old. We offer a variety of ways to brew up tasty hot beverages to fill your favorite coffee cup. Choose from standard drip machines with high volume carafes or durable thermal carafes. Pour-over brewers come in manual and automatic versions to create fast, hot cups of java goodness. Automatic versions heat water to industry standards in mere seconds and allow plenty of contact between hot water and beans to develop the coffee essences you love. Manual pour-over brewers have everything you need but the hot water to make your own coffee wherever you are. Order a teapot or automatic kettle to make quick cups of coffee without waiting for a machine to brew it for you. Go retro with a siphon-style coffee maker. You never have to use the stove for the electric versions of siphon brewers. A flip of a switch starts the process. Hot water vapor pushes through the top of the appliance to soak the ground coffee beans, and then the brew slowly drips back down into the carafe for a perfect cup of coffee.